Method of making splinter shells, and splinter projectiles and splinter heads made according to this method

ABSTRACT

A splinter shell and method of making same according to which at least two tubular bodies of strong but deformable material are coaxially arranged with regard to each other and located one within the other while being peripherally spaced from each other by the diameter of the desired splinter bodies to be incorporated in the shell, whereupon the splinter bodies are introduced between the tubular bodies and, while the outermost tubular body is confined on its outside, the inner peripheral surface of the innermost tubular body is subjected to radially outwardly directed pressure to cause all of the tubular bodies to deform partially around the splinter bodies and to sandwich the same between the adjacent tubular bodies.

United States Patent 1191' Tieben v a 1111 3,815,504 1451 June 11, 1974 METHOD OF MAKING SPLINTER SHELLS,

AND SPLINTER PROJECTILES AND SPLINTER HEADS MADE ACCORDING TO THIS METHOD [75] Inventor: Heinz Tieben, Lauf, Germany [73] Assignee: DiehLNurnberg, Germany [22] Filed: June 12, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 261,817

30 Foreign Application PriorityData June 12, 1971 Germany 2129196 52 us. 01. 1 02/67 [51] Int. Cl. F42b 13/18 [58] Field of Search 102/64, 67

[56] References Cited I V UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,234,657 7/1917 Grahamu'fg 102/67 2,564,751 8/1951 Cook 2,724,334 11/1955 Norton et a1. 102/52 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 133,076 l0/l9l9 Great Britain 102/67 Primary Examiner-Verlin R. Pendegrass Attorney, Agent, or FirmWalter Becker 5 7 ABSTRACT A splinter shell and method of making same according to which at least two tubular bodies of strong but deformable material are coaxially arranged with regard to each other and located one within the other while being peripherally spaced from each other by the diameter of the desired splinter bodies to be incorporated in the shell, whereupon the splinter bodies are introduced between .the tubular bodies and, while the outermost tubular body is confined on its outside, the inner peripheral surface of the innermost tubular body is subjected to radially outwardly directed pressure to cause all of the tubular bodies to deform partially around the splinter bodies and to sandwich the same between the adjacent tubular bodies.

3 Claims, 6 Drawingv Figures 1 METHOD OF MAKING SPLINTER SHELLS, AND

SPLINTER PROJECTILES AND SPLINTER HEADS I MADE ACCORDING TO THIS METHOD The present invention relates toa method of making splinter shells while using preformed, preferably ballshaped or pellet-like splinters, and also concerns splinter projectiles and splinter heads made according to thismethod.

It is known so to prenotch explosive bodies by longitudinal and transverse cuts that they will be split up into individual splinters during the detonation of the explosive charge. In addition thereto, it .is also known to been solved by a method which is characterized primarily in'that ametallic projectile tubular body of the desired outer diameter is introduced into acylindrical slightly conical hollow tool mold which has an inner diameter corresponding to the outer diameter of the bring about this effect by the insertion of a preshaped foil upon the surface ofthe explosive charge. Aside from the fact that the power required for splitting up such explosive bodies considerably reduces the effective force of the splinters, the just mentioned steps do not bring about the formationof splinters of a defined size and also fail in furnishing the desired penetration and uniform scattering in all directions ..A better splinter effect anddistribution can be realized' with preformed splinters which are filled, for in-- stance, into a form and are embedded in a hardening skeleton of concrete, synthetic material, orthe like.

Thus, for instance, it has become known to arrange preformed pellets or ball-shaped splinters on an explosive body in one or more layers. In such an instance, the pellets are interconnected by a pourable resin or the like and form a more or less resistant splinter shirt or screen. Inasmuch as such baked together splinter shirt is able to absorb only small axial forces and nearly no radial forces, the employment of such splinter shirt is customarily limited tothrowable ammunition and to rockets with a low number of twists. For the employment of such splintershirt in connection with projectiles, there is required not only a shell frame but also a mantle which is able to absorb the occurring forces. This means that on one hand additional mass has to be carried which does not contribute to the splinter effect, while on the other hand, as mentioned above, the output of the explosive charge is reduced. While by the employment of preformed splinter pellets the hit density of splinter projectiles is considerably increased, the embedding of the splinter pellets as well as the mantle or jacket lead to an undesired reduction in the penetrating capability.

splinter shell to be produced, while a second metallic tubular body having an outer diameter which is smaller than the inner diameter of the outer tubular body by twice the maximum diameter of the splinters is centrally inserted into the first tubular body. Thereupon the splinter filling is poured into the thus formed tubu- Vlar cylindrical chamber, and finally by high pressure deformation the inner tubular body isby pressing its walls in' between the splinters deformed radially outwardly with regard to the rotation symmetric splinter shell and together with the outer tubular-body is plated so as to form a rotation symmetric splinter shell with a splinter mantle arranged in the boundary region of the tubes.

In this way a one-layer or a multi-layer splinter mantle may be produced. For making multi-layer splinter bodies, forinstance, two or more tubes which are narrower by twice the splinter diameter are centrally arranged one within the other. The tubular cylindrical hollow chambers are then filled with splinter bodies and the tubes are plated upon each other while fully enclosing the splinters and while simultaneously prefragmenting the tubes into splinter elements of a predetermined size and mass.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, the twist projectile 1 comprises a splinter shell2 forming the projectile mantle which houses an explosive charge 3 adapted to be ignited by a fuse 4. As will be seen from FIG. 2,

the splinter shell 2 in its initial manufacturing condition It is, therefore, an object of the present invention so to deform preformed splinters together with the projectile or fighting head shell that a splinter mantle will be created which, while being able to overcome the shearing and torsion forces occurring during the firing, will nevertheless by the explosive charge without high losses in output be split up completely into splinters of a defined size and number and of a high piercing capability as well as a predetermined scattering range. This object and other objects and advantages of the invention will appear more clearly from the following specification in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view of a twist projectile, partly in section.

FIG. 2 is a cutout of a one-layer splinter shell prior to its high pressure deformation.

FIG. 3 is a partial cutout of FIG. 2 after plating the tubes upon each other.-

comprises an outer tube 6 of deformable metal, for instance extra strong aluminum or steel, with a wall thickness of, for instance, 3 mm, a layer of preformed pellet splinters 7 of ceramic (A1 0 or hard metal,

.such as tungsten carbide, iron-titanium-alloy, or the like with a diameter of, for instance, 4 mm, and a metallic inner tube 8 of, for instance, a 5 mm wall thickness. The splinters 7 may, if desired, also have a shape differing from the shape of a sphere, for instance, may be roller-shaped. It is important in this connection that the hollow chamber 5 between the tubes 6 and 8 is uniformly filled with one layer of splinters- 7.

For manufacturing the splinter shell 2 according to FIG. 3, the tubes 6 and 8 are interconnected in conformity with the above described method. The radial deformation may be effected in a manner known per se and, more specifically, in a shock-like manner, for instance, by explosion deformation or electromagnetically, but it may also be effected, if desired, by pressing, namely by driving a conical calibrating bolt through the inner tube 8. In this way not only the splinters 7 are on all sides enclosed in the tubes 6, 8, but at the same time the tubes 6, 8 are differently compacted and deeply prenotched. In this way a grate of coherent of a cartridge case base and during the detonation of the explosive charge 3 not only frees the pellet splinters 7 but also is itself split'up into substantially uniform splinters 11 (FIG. 6).

According to FIGS. 4 and 5, the splinter shell may also consist of a plurality of layers in which instance the manufacturing process corresponds to that described above. In addition to the tubes 6 and 8, an additional inner tube is provided. A further layer of pellet splinters 7 is filled into the tubular hollow chamber 9. As will be seen from FIG. 5, also in this instance, after the high pressure deformation, the pellet splinters 7 are fully pressed into the tubes 6, 8 and 10 and these tubes are prenotched in a grate-like manner.

FIG. 6 shows the size of the broken up splinters 11 with regard to the pellet splinters 7.

By the employment of tubes of extra or highly strong materials and by their additional compacting during the transformation process, not only the pellet splinters 7 but also the broken pieces or splinters ll of tubes 6, 8 and 10 will obtain a high piercing capability.

As will be seen from the above, the method according to the present invention makes it possible to produce splinter shells which comprise two or more tubes which are plated upon each other and which by means of the enclosed pellet splinters are pre-fragmented and encase one or more layers of pellet splinters. These splinter shells will then be able, when applied to twist projectiles, to withstand the shearing and centrifugal forces occurring during the firing process. Therefore, they are able directly to form the mantle of the projectile. Inasmuch as the tubes are during the high pressure deformation prefragmented in a grate-like manner by the pressed-in hard metal pellet splinters and are differ ently compacted and are thus subdivided into a coherent grate of splinter elements, it will be assuredthat also comprises any modifications within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A method of making a splinter shell for use in pro- 5 jectiles, which includes the steps of: preparing a first during the detonation of the explosive charge not only the pellet splinters will be freed but also the tubes will be split-up into many substantially uniform splinters of a predetermined size which with a defined piercing capability are sprayed over a limited range.

It is, of course,-to be understood that the present invention is, by no means, limited to the method set forth above and the splinter bodies shown in the drawing but metallic tubular body to form the outer wall of the splinter shell to be made. inserting into said first tubular body a second metallic tubular body of an outer diameter less than the inner diameter of said first tubular first and second tubular bodies partially into said annular chamber and sandwiching said splinters between said first and second tubular bodies.

2. A method according to claim 1, which includes the step of inserting into said second tubular body at least one additional metallic tubular body coaxial with said second tubular body and circumferentially spaced from said second tubular body by a distance substantially equalling the diameter of splinters to be placed between said second and said additional tubular body, introducing splinters into the thus formed annular chamber defined by said second and said additional tubular body, and while holding said first tubular body confined on its outer peripheral surface subjecting the inner peripheral surface of said additional tubular body to radially outwardly directed pressure so as to press said additional tubular body and said second tubular body partially into the annular chamber defined by said second and additional tubular bodies and sandwiching the splinters therein between said last mentioned two annular bodies simultaneously with the sandwiching of the splinters in said first mentioned annular chamber between said first and second tubular bodies.

3. A method according to claim 1, which includes the step of pre-fragmenting the tubular bodies. 

1. A method of making a splinter shell for use in projectiles, which includes the steps of: preparing a first metallic tubular body to form the outer wall of the splinter shell to be made, inserting into said first tubular body a second metallic tubular body of an outer diameter less than the inner diameter of said first tubular body by substantially twice the maximum diameter of the splinters to be incorporated into said shell while arranging said second tubular body coaxially with said first tubular body, filling splinters into the thus formed annular chamber defined by said first and second tubular bodies, and while holding said first tubular body confined on its outer peripheral surface subjecting the inner peripheral surface of said second tubular body to radially outwardly directed pressure so as to press said first and second tubular bodies partially into said annular chamber and sandwiching said splinters between said first and second tubular bodies.
 2. A method according to claim 1, which includes the step of inserting into said second tubular body at least one additional metallic tubular body coaxial with said second tubular body and circumferentially spaced from said second tubular body by a distance substantially equalling the diameter of splinters to be placed between said second and said additional tubular body, introducing splinters into the thus formed annular chamber defined by said second and said additional tubular body, and while holding said first tubular body confined on its outer peripherAl surface subjecting the inner peripheral surface of said additional tubular body to radially outwardly directed pressure so as to press said additional tubular body and said second tubular body partially into the annular chamber defined by said second and additional tubular bodies and sandwiching the splinters therein between said last mentioned two annular bodies simultaneously with the sandwiching of the splinters in said first mentioned annular chamber between said first and second tubular bodies.
 3. A method according to claim 1, which includes the step of pre-fragmenting the tubular bodies. 